NCJ Number
187943
Date Published
2000
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This paper traces the history of efforts to construct a women's prison in the Australian Commonwealth Territory (ACT).
Abstract
Currently the ACT has no prison. It has Corrective Services, a mixed-gender remand center, a mixed-gender youth detention center, a periodic detention program, probation, and parole. Currently, all ACT prisoners, including women, are housed in New South Wales facilities. For the past 15 years, the construction of an ACT prison has been under discussion. In August 1998 the ACT Legislative Assembly established a Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety to address the issue of a proposed prison for the ACT. In May 1999 the Women's Alcohol and Other Drug (WAOD) working party took a lead in the discussion of women's prison issues in the ACT. The WAOD's submission to the Standing Committee was favorably received and led to the formation of the ACT Prison Women's Working Group, which began meeting monthly with the WAOD, beginning in March 2000. The outcome has been a proposed prison model that generally reflects women's criminality, sentencing, and security requirements. This model would make it possible for all ACT women, except those in maximum security, to live in the ACT in a residential style that would separate them from any men's prison facilities. This model has received a mixed response from the Government and current corrections agencies. Possible future scenarios for the prospect of women's corrections in the ACT are discussed.